I love American actors for their work ethic: Helen Mirren

London: Hollywood actress Dame Helen Mirren feels British actors are less hard-working and take longer to learn their lines than American performers.

The Oscar winning actress` comments were related to a 1994 London play "A Month In The Country", in which she starred along with Joseph Fiennes and John Hurt, although she made no mention of individual members of the cast. Speaking in Los Angeles at the Brit Week Film & TV Summit last week, she said there had been no such problem with the American ensemble when the play moved to New York. "They were two wonderful casts and great productions. But in England, at the first rehearsal a lot of the cast were still not on top of their lines. We used to finish at two in the afternoon so everyone could learn lines. In America, by the second week the whole cast had their lines down," telegraph.co.uk quoted her as saying. "And they did a full day`s rehearsal, which we didn`t do in England. There were no complaints, they just took that as being what you do. I`ve always loved American actors for their work ethic, their absolute commitment," she added. In July, Helen will team up with British comedian Russell Brand to begin filming a new version of the 1981 comedy "Arthur", which originally starred Dudley Moore and John Gielgud. She and Brand have also finished filming a new version of "The Tempest", which is to be released in the autumn, the Mail on Sunday reported. IANS